There have been some misc posts here and there about aftermarket HID kits so I thought I would post some info and pics on my setup.

Important notes before purchasing a kit::
When purchasing a kit make sure it is CANBUS compliant - this is very important because with a standard kit you will get horrible flickering that makes the vehicle very unsafe and also will annoy the crap out of everyone on the road. (I learned the hard way!)

This description of a CANBUS ballasts was clipped from an online retailer:

Quote:

This ballast is designed to fix all CANBUS problems in newer cars. Some vehicles will display a "headlight out" warning light on the dash board to indicate a burnt out bulb when installing an aftermarket HID kit. With 4400ML Filter Capacitors inside + Electronic Circuit Inductance this ballast provides the ability to solve the CANBUS problems. Secondly, the electronic parts used inside the CANBUS Pro are higher quality than all other aftermarket ballasts on the market, providing a 0.4% defect rate. Many cheap HID conversion kits have a 25% defect rate!!!

There is also a wide range in choices of color temperatures on aftermarket HID's. Normally options range between 4000k and 10000k - The ones I have installed and that are shown below are of the 6000k variety.

Installation Notes::
The install is a complete pain in the ass!
Not because connecting the harness or ballasts is difficult but because access to the headlight bulbs is a bit of a joke on a WK2. Be prepared to carve up your hands pretty good unless you have the fist and fingers of a small child or midget. Other than getting the bulbs in everything else is a breeze and there is quite a bit of room to mount the ballasts etc in or around the headlight housing.

Pictures::
I will warn you in advance the pics do not do the lights justice. It was hard to get them to show up properly in the pic without messing up the rest of the photo (definitely not a pro in the camera department) so the lights will appear slightly brighter in person.

First off are a few shots of how the light is projected onto the road. Considering these are halogen housings they do a very good job of keeping the light contained and on the road where it should be. Note the sharp downward sloping cutoff line on the divider in first pic below - this is a huge plus because you dont want to be blinding everyone else on the road. I have also noticed that when driving behind cars it seems to light up everything from the trunk lid down and does not flood the interior of the car in front of you with light - another big plus! ... on to the pics.

Side cutoff (nasty blackberry pics - sorry)

Next up is the overall coverage on the road:

Finally a few shots of the beast itself

So that's it! Impressions of the kit are great - I have had no issues and am very happy with how everything turned out.

Nice work! What bulb lights did you use? Also, where did you buy them from?

I bought them locally here in Vancouver but there are tons of kits out there and I think 80% of them are all made in the same place anyways. The bulb size I used was H11 for the headlights.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrpositraction

Very bright, loved them, but would not do it in the stock non-projector housings again. Just not fair to the others on the road.

I was very concerned about this and would have removed the kit if this was the case. All housings are different so you can't really compare to other vehicles. I have had the kit installed for well over a month now and have not been flashed once.

Just curious, why would you want aftermarket HID? Whats wrong with stock? Not as bright?

Yeah he has a Laredo with the standard non-projector halogen headlights.

The results look good but is there a lot of excessive glare above the cutoff line? aka are you blinding the crap out of people or do those halogen housings do an ok job of keeping the HID light on the road and not up in peoples face? Thats the biggest issues with putting a HID "kit" in a halogen housing.

No noticeable glare above the cut-off, no blinding of oncoming traffic, no lighting up the interiors of the car in front of you. This has all been covered in the thread already

The blackberry pics aren't great but you can clearly see the downward sloping line on the concrete divider and also the fact that the silver civic doesnt have a spec of light anywhere above the window line. This is the same case for people directly in front of you.

I will try to get some better night shots if I get the chance but overall these housings do extremely well considering they were designed for halogens. BIG improvement in visibility and also driving enjoyment - I love the crisp white light on the road compared to the dingy yellowed look of the halogens.

1. lets see the cut off line on a wall. showing me a blurry moving shot at speed doesnt SHOW that there is NO glare. gget within 25 feet of a wall and show us that shot/
2. you dont need any canbus complaint anything if you use a relay harness which is actually much safer.